I want to speak to us tonight
about the Holocaust. If you will, open your Bibles
to Revelation chapter two, Leviticus, I'm sorry, Leviticus chapter
one. Leviticus chapter one and verse
one. And the Lord called unto Moses
and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation
saying, speak unto the children of Israel and say unto them,
if any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord, you shall bring
your offering of the cattle, even of the herd and of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice
of the herd, Let him offer a male without blemish. He shall offer
it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle
of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand
upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for
him to make an atonement for him. And he shall kill the bullock
before the Lord. And the priest, Aaron's son,
shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood round about upon the
altar, that is, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And he shall flay the burnt offering
and cut it into his pieces. And the sons of Aaron, the priest,
shall put fire upon the altar and lay the wood in order upon
the fire. And the priest, Aaron's son,
shall lay the parts, the head and the fat, in order upon the
wood that is on the fire, which is upon the altar. But his inwards
and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priest shall burn
all on the altar, to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by
fire, of a sweet savor unto the Lord." The Holocaust. The word
that is translated burnt offering in the original is the word holocaust. It was, as we see in verse one,
the Lord, the Lord that spoke unto Moses about the holocaust. In Hebrews one and verse one,
the apostle stated God at sundry times and in diverse manners
spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets. And this is
one of those times. In fact, if you take your concordance
and look in the book of Leviticus, you will see that 33 times, 33
times the Lord spoke unto Moses. As the writer said, at sundry
times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers
by the prophets." That is, God spoke, the Lord spoke to Moses
out of the tabernacle. Moses serves as a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ as a mediator. Arthur Pink, he gives 75 ways
that Moses may picture or be a type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But as a mediator, he, the children
of Israel, when God came down upon the mountain, the fire,
the thunder, and everything the people asked Moses, for him to
go up and to receive the word from God and then bring the word
to them. And that's what we see here in
the very first line of the book of Leviticus. Moses is the mediator. God speaks to Moses and Moses
speaks to the children of Israel. God has spoken to us in his son
in these last days. That's what Hebrews 1 and verse
2 says. spoke in diverse manners in times
past by the prophets God has spoken. But in these last days,
he has spoken unto us in his son. The Lord Jesus said, Moses
wrote of me. Philip, when he found his brother
Nathanael, he said, we have found him. of whom Moses and the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth. Moses is the human
writer of the law, that is the five books of the Pentateuch. And he wrote of Christ, he wrote
of him all through these books. And as we open up the book of
Leviticus, the first offering we come to is the Holocaust,
the burnt offering. And in reading about it and looking
at it, we see that Moses wrote of Christ, that Moses spoke of
Christ, that these offerings, beginning with this first one,
all are pictures and types of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. The law of God commands, this
is God's command to all men, thou shalt love the Lord thy
God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy
mind. That law, God's law, it must
be perfectly obeyed that God might be just and the justifier. And as I read this chapter this
past week, this is the truth that just sprang out to me the
picture in this offering called the Holocaust, his absolute,
that is the Lord Jesus Christ, his absolute, perfect, complete
love to the Father. With all his heart, with all
his soul, and with all his mind. Because all of this offering
All of this offering, you know, some of the offerings which,
as you read, you see, the priests were entitled to parts of the
animal that was offered. Sometimes the offerer himself
who brought the animal, he was entitled to some of the offering,
but not this offering, not this burnt offering. This offering
is holy unto the Lord. All of it is burned upon the
altar. so that it becomes, as you see
in verse nine, unto God himself a sweet savor unto the Lord. In Ephesians chapter five and
verse two, the apostle writing to the believers said, walk in
love even as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself
for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. He offered himself wholly unto
God. And he did that for us, as you
sang just a few minutes ago in that song. It was for us, it
was for you, if you're one of his children tonight that he
bled and died, gave himself wholly unto the Lord. Love God! as you are required to love God
as our substitute. Love God perfectly. And how could
he show his love to God, his dedication to God, his absolute
love to God with all his heart, all his soul, all his mind, any
more than when he was upon the cross and was willing even to
be deserted of his Father for that time? He loved God. And as our substitute,
His love for God is our love for God. Now when you read through the
entire chapter here of Leviticus 1, you see there are three divisions. Each division is speaking about
the burnt offering, the Holocaust. But there's a difference because
the first one is a larger animal, one of the herd, maybe a bullock. And then the next is a sheep. And the final one in the third
division is that of a bird, two birds. God made it so that a
person's situation, no matter what it was, if he was rich,
if he was in the middle, just an ordinary person like you and
I, or if he was a very poor person, there was a way, there was a
way that he could approach unto God, give an offering, an entire
burnt offering. Let me point six things out to
us tonight about this Holocaust. And they all point to Christ.
First, the offering must be without blemish. Verse three. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice
of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish. It is to picture,
it is to be a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. It must be without
blemish. The Apostle John, who walked
with the Lord, ate with the Lord, lay his head upon the Lord's
breast the night before he was crucified, heard his heartbeat, handled the word of life. He
said this, and you know that he was manifested to take away
our sins. And in him is no sin, without
blemish. Isn't that wonderful? To think of the Lord, to think
that there was a man in this world without blemish, without
sin. There's only been one man, and
that's the man, Christ Jesus, that this sacrifice This burnt
offering is to picture. As our high priest in the letter
of Hebrews, we read that he is holy, he is harmless, he is undefiled,
and separate from sinners. And that last phrase there, separate
from sinners, what does that mean? He was a man. He was a
man, but he was a son of a woman. He was the seed of the woman.
He was not the seed of a man. He was separate from sinners.
He did not partake of that contagion that man has translated generation
after generation to those of his children, that contagion
of sin. The Lord Jesus Christ was separate
from sinners. Yes, He was a man. Thank God
He was a man. The God-man. But He was a man
unlike all others. Without blemish. Without blemish. And then in Hebrews 9 and verse
14, the apostle said, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself. Now listen. without spot unto
God. When he offered himself unto
God, he is the sacrifice. The sacrifice was without spot. The animal must be without blemish. You don't go out there in your
herd and just look around for any old calf or steer or bullock
or whatever you've got out there that's halfway dead and deformed
and blind in one eye and bring that. No, no, no, no. This animal
is going to picture the spotless, holy, perfect Son of God. He must be without blemish. The
second thing we read, the offering must be voluntary. Also, we find
in verse three, he shall offer it of his own voluntary will. Everything about the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God's man, was voluntary. His incarnation, he was not forced. He was not coerced into becoming
a man. In fact, the scripture says,
that he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but he
made himself. He did this himself. Well, you
know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich,
yet for your sakes, he became poor. Everything about him coming
into this world and living and dying, everything was a free
will offering on his part. his incarnation, then living
in this world as a man, as a man who, as he said, had no place. The foxes have their holes and
the birds have their nests, but the Son of Man hath nowhere to
lay his head. He came into this world. He lived
upon the gifts of others. He was a man acquainted with
grief, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Adam, you see, had
forfeited every right to the goods, the blessings of this
world, the temporal blessings of this world. And the Lord Jesus
Christ coming in our place and in our stead, He gave himself
and his life completely was a voluntary giving of himself. Turn with
me to John chapter 18. The night that he was arrested
and taken eventually to the cross, it's interesting to read John's
account of this in John chapter 18. When Jesus had spoken these words,
the words that we have in chapters 14, 15, and 16, when he had spoken
these words and then his prayer in John chapter 17, he went forth
with his disciples over the brook Sedron Where was the garden into
the which he entered and his disciples? Now notice this, and
Judas also, which betrayed him, knew the place. The Lord Jesus,
he could have gone some other place. He could have gone to
some other place, but no, he went to the place where Judas
knew he would be found. Judas knew the place. For Jesus
oft times resorted thither with his disciples. Judas then, having received a
band of men and officers from the chief priests and Pharisees,
cometh thither with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus
therefore, knowing all things that should come upon him, went
forth and said unto them, Whom seek ye? They answered him, Jesus
of Nazareth. Jesus saith unto them, I am. And Judas also, which betrayed
him, stood with them. As soon then as he had said unto
them, I am, they went backward, fell on the ground. The offering must be voluntary,
a free will offering. Then ask ye them again, whom
seek ye? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus answered, I have told you
that I am. If therefore you seek me, let
these go their way, that the same might be fulfilled which
ye spake of them which thou gavest me. Have I lost none? Offering the sacrifice must be
a voluntary sacrifice. Therefore doth my father love
me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No
man taketh it from me, but I lay it down and I have power to take
it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. The third thing we will see in
this Leviticus chapter one about this Holocaust is the offering
must picture imputation. In verse four, and he shall put
his hand upon the head of the burnt offering. The man who brings
the offering, he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt
offering. It must picture imputation. It must picture the transference
of the sins of His people unto the sacrifice, unto the substitute,
the Savior. In Isaiah chapter 53 and verse
6, the prophet said, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have
turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on him
the iniquity of us all. This man laying his hand upon
the head pictured what God would later do. He would lay the iniquity
of all his children upon his son, the Lord Jesus. For he,
that is God, hath made him Christ to be sin for us, who knew no
sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. who his own self, Peter said,
who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Can you enter into that and realize
tonight that your sins, all of them, not most of them, all of
them, were laid upon Christ, upon the surety that God did
that, that God made to meet upon him the iniquity of us all."
All of your sins, they were laid on Christ. And the fourth thing
that this burnt offering shows us is it must picture substitution. Also in verse four, and it shall
be accepted for him to make atonement for him. I've come to appreciate that little word,
far. Have you? Far. It shall be accepted for him.
For him. It must picture substitution. It shall be accepted for him
to make atonement for him. Now this burnt offering represents
or pictures to us the atoning work of Jesus Christ. Now the word atonement, you know
it means reconciliation. That's one reason we like to
break it down into those three words at one minute. because
that's a good description of the atonement. It reconciles
us unto God. We are at one with God. That division that had existed
because of our sins is now gone. We are reconciled. We have peace
with God. We're at one with God. The word atonement itself literally
means to cover. it shall be accepted for him
to make an atonement for him. When you think about the atoning
work of the Lord Jesus Christ as a covering, it covers all
our sins. From the justice of God, they're
all covered. So much so that when that prophet,
and God put the words in his mouth, Balaam a false prophet
and he saw the tents of Israel the camp of Israel and He said
this he beheld no iniquity in Israel Why? His elect the Israel of God the
spiritual Israel of God God beholds no iniquity in them their sins
are covered because there's an atonement by And I'll tell you something else,
it not only covers our sins from the justice of God, but it covers
us from the wrath of God. God will discipline his children.
He will. No question about it. But it's
the discipline of a reconciled, loving father. It's not the wrath
of a judge. No, no. It's a discipline, and he that
loves his children, the scripture tells us, will discipline his
children. Here's the fifth thing about
this offering. This offering must picture, now
listen, it must picture the cruel death of Christ. He couldn't
just die in his sleep. He couldn't just die in his bed
at night in his sleep. Oh no, this death of the Savior,
It was a cruel death. It was a suffering death. And
it must be pictured in this burnt offering. The bullock must die. And you notice when you read
this, we're not told who kills the bullock. We're not told the
priest killed the bullock. The priest does sprinkle the
blood. That's true. He does flay the animal. He does
lay the animal in pieces. That's true. He, the scripture,
he shall kill the bullet. Can you say your sins as causing
his death? That it was your sins that nailed
him there to that tree. My sins, the sins of his people. The bullock must die. Its blood
shall be sprinkled upon the altar. But also, I want you to notice,
it must be flayed and cut in pieces. Flaying means taking
off the skin. Some of you men are hunters.
I know you like to hunt. And when you get a deer, if that's
what you're hunting for, String him up and you skin him. And then the inside, the fur,
the coat's taken off and you see the flesh. That's what flaying
means. The outside skin is taken away,
exposing the inner flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ said this,
the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me. He hath
nothing in me. The devil tempted or tested him,
and the more the devil tested him, the more he was tempted,
the more his holiness shined forth. The animal must be flayed
and cut in pieces. You must picture a cruel death. Number two, it must be laid in
order upon the wood. Now what does that mean? What
does that picture rather? It must be laid in order upon
the wood. I suggest that it shows us that
the many prophecies that we have in the Old Testament of him and
his death, they all must be fulfilled perfectly. Perfectly. There can be no doubt. There
can never be any question. Yes, this is the one who was
promised all through the Old Testament. In fact, in John chapter 19,
these are the words of the Lord Jesus. John says, after this, Jesus,
knowing that all things were now accomplished, Listen, that
the scripture might be fulfilled. You have to lay it all in order. Those men must be around the
foot of the cross gambling for his coat. Yes. Those religious
leaders, they must be encircling him like dogs. Ah, ah, you saved others. Save yourself. Come down from
the cross and we'll believe in you. Everything must be accomplished
that was written of him. And when the Lord Jesus, knowing
that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled. One last thing, I thirst. Because it was written of him
in the Psalms that they would give him vinegar to drink. And so he says, I thirst. And
they took a sponge and put it up to his mouth, the vinegar. Then, and not until then, he
bowed his head, gave up the ghost, dismissed his spirit. And notice it must also be the
n-words. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered
physically. but he also suffered inwardly,
spiritually. The old writers, they used to
say the soul of his sufferings was the suffering of his soul.
Again, in Isaiah 53, he hath put him to grief when thou shalt
make his soul an offering for sin. And the last thing, The sixth
thing, the offering must picture perfect, absolute love to God. It's all burnt upon the altar. It's all for God. Verse nine,
but his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water and the
priest shall burn all on the altar. to be a burnt sacrifice
and offering made by fire of a sweet savor unto the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ obeyed
God's law. He said, I did not come to destroy
the law, but to fulfill the law. The law said, thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and
with all thy mind. The Lord Jesus Christ did so,
giving himself wholly to the wrath of God, to the desertion
of his father. And he did all of this out of
perfect love, perfect love to his father and perfect love to
his neighbor, to those who were given unto him in that everlasting
covenant of grace. I pray the Lord will take these
words and bless them to all of us tonight. And we may be enabled
to go away thanking the Lord for Jesus Christ, our Lord. Yes, I failed. I failed miserably
to love God with all my heart, all my soul, and all my being.
But he has loved God for me. And his love to God is my love
to God. And I'm accepting. in Him, and
as He is, so am I in this world. Let's turn to number 515, Beulah
Land, and let's sing this hymn, Beulah Land.